"Opening Moves" Arena Blogs - Cooldowns, Preparation, Flexibility

Over the past few days, Blizzard has released several more blogs talking about arena advice! This article series leads up to the first Arena Cup Season starting on January 31st.\r\rIf you'd like to get your feet wet in PvP, check out our Getting into Legion PvP guide.\r\r\r\rMixing it Up\r\rEven with a clever strategy, pristine positioning, and efficient cooldown usage, you may still find yourself on the back foot after the initial clash of your Arena match. But nothing ever truly goes according to plan, especially when you have three opponents trying to disrupt your movements and force you to make mistakes. Alex \u201cAlec\u201d Sheldrick, team captain of the World of Warcraft Arena World Champion team ABC, believes the key to recovering from an iffy start is flexibility.\r\r\u201cIf you play one playstyle, and you open the same way every match, you may be caught off guard when someone changes things up\u201d, said Alec. \u201cYou need to be able to recognize circumstances and react appropriately. Those skills will come with experience and practice.\u201d\r\rTempo Storm's Jason \u201cPika\u201d Smith agrees.\r\r\u201cIf you're going into Arena with one strategy, and it isn't working well, you need to look for other ways to win\u201d, said Pika. \u201cMaybe instead of training the healer all game, you try to CC them and swap targets. Be unpredictable and keep your opponents guessing.\u201d\r\rThe kill target that your team decided on before the game started might not be dropping. Maybe you're not even able to get a defensive cooldown out of them. It could be time to consider a target swap.\r\r\u201cTarget swapping can totally change the game\u201d, Pika continued. \u201cYour main goal is usually to set up on the same target over and over again, but sometimes you can catch someone out of position and draw out a defensive cooldown.\u201d Creating that kind of quick, unexpected pressure can turn the tides in your favor and open up new kill opportunities that didn't exist previously.\r\rSo what are some considerations for choosing a new target on the fly?\r\u201cTry to deduce what talents your opponents are using when making your decisions, suggests Alec. \u201cFor example, during our elimination match at BlizzCon, the enemy team had a Feral Druid that wasn't our main target\u2014most Feral Druids take the defensive Afinidad con Guardián talent. However, he eventually cast Erupción solar, which is only available with Afinidad con Equilibrio, so we swapped to him because we knew he'd be squishier.\u201d\r\r\u201cIf you're going up against a Resto Shaman, pay attention to who they cast Earth Shield on\u201d, says Method Synergy's Ryan \u201cTrill\u201d Costello. \u201cThere's a six-second cooldown on Escudo de tierra, so if you can draw it out on one target then swap to another, you'll have a short window of opportunity to do some unmitigated damage.\u201d\r\r\u201cOne of the most commonly picked healing talents is Energía y vigor, which buffs output by 20% as long as the healer is above 80% health\u201d, Alec points out. \u201cIf you can keep the healer below that health threshold, they'll have a harder time keeping their team up.\u201d\r\rThere are plenty of signals to look out for as your Arena matches unfold, and as you continue to gain experience against different compositions, be sure to remember what worked well\u2014and do more of it. The more options you have to respond to pressure, and the more you're able to correctly identify opportunities to mix things up, the more success you'll find in the Arena.\r\r\u201cThe more information you have, the better your decision making will be.\u201d \u2013 Alec\r\rThe match isn't over \u2018til it's over, so stay on your toes, keep fighting, and remain vigilant for the final entry into our Opening Moves series, where we'll discuss the importance of learning from mistakes with professional World of Warcraft Arena players in an effort to help level up your play.\r\r\rCooldownsOnce the gates have opened and the target's been called, the fighting begins! Swords clash, spells fly, the competing teams test each others' mettle, as well as their own. But this initial skirmish isn't just about trading blows\u2014it's about trading cooldowns.<iframe src="https:\/\/player.twitch.tv\/?autoplay=false&video=v157540936" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"><\/iframe><a href="https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/videos\/157540936?tt_content=text_link&tt_medium=vod_embed" style="padding:2px 0px 4px; display:block; width:345px; font-weight:normal; font-size:10px; text-decoration:underline;">Watch Rebroadcast: WoW Arena European Cup #4 - Day 1 from Warcraft on www.twitch.tv<\/a> \r Each player has a variety of defensive and offensive ability cooldowns, determined by their class, specialization, and talent choices. Offensive cooldowns can increase a player's burst-damage output, while defensive cooldowns save lives by greatly reducing damage taken, allowing players to stay in the fight. These cooldowns are only available every one to two minutes, however, so timing is key.It's important to think about cooldowns collectively: what's available to your team, and what's available to your opponents? As your team gains more experience, you'll begin to realize what you're capable of in terms of dealing and taking damage, and how to best rotate your cooldowns.\rWhy Cooldown Management MattersTo learn why cooldown management is so important, we asked Jason \u201cPika\u201d Smith, one of the most infamous Pícaro players in the World of Warcraft Arena scene, to describe his worst-case scenarios for a match opening.\u201cIf you try to all-in someone by popping all your offensive cooldowns, and you don't even draw out a defensive cooldown, the other team will have the upper hand,\u201d said Jason \u201cPika\u201d Smith. \u201cInversely, if another team opens up on you and forces all your team's defensive cooldowns, you're pretty much guaranteed to die.\u201dIn both of these scenarios, the \u201ccooldown equation\u201d between the competing teams becomes quickly imbalanced. \u201cA common mistake that teams make is panicking and overlapping cooldowns unnecessarily, which puts them behind for the rest of the match\u201d, Pika added. Be sure to communicate with your team to avoid using two cooldowns where one would have sufficed!One of your most useful tools in making the right decision in these cases is game knowledge. The better you understand your opponents' cooldowns, the more efficiently your team can theirs. \u201cMany cooldowns and abilities have very schematic responses,\u201d Alex \u201cAlec\u201d Sheldrick observed. \u201cFor example, if a Mago casts Venas heladas, a Caballero de la Muerte should trade their Anti-Magic Zone to protect their team because those two abilities have similar cooldown lengths.\u201d\rKeep Them GuessingHowever, not every decision you make should be automatic, Alec says. \u201cI try to make my opponents less comfortable by playing in ways they might not expect. For example, many Magos use Invisibilidad for a stronger opening; however, I use it as a defensive ability so that my team can play to win by attrition\u2014not by brute force.\u201d \u201cMost people use their abilities in the same way, but I encourage you to \u2018break the meta' and experiment. Grow your own comfort zone, and focus on putting your enemies out of theirs.\u201d \u2013 Alec Though complex, cooldown management isn't quite calculus, so keep practicing, keep experimenting, and stay tuned for the next entry into our Opening Moves series, where we'll discuss reacting to the moment with professional World of Warcraft Arena players to help level up your play.\r\rPreparing the Front\rIn a game of chess, opening moves are made with the intention of gaining control over key areas of the board, protecting the King, providing mobility for friendly pieces, and creating opportunities to capture opposing pieces. These goals are also present in World of Warcraft Arena matches, and in each game, player or unit positioning is one of the most crucial elements to understand in order to gain and maintain control of a match.In the context of WoW Arena, \u201cpositioning\u201d refers to a player's location relative to their teammates, their opponents, and obstacles on the map. All three of these considerations must be taken into account when analyzing a player's position. In order to understand the importance of positioning, let's take a closer look at each of these elements individually.\rPosition Relative to Your Teammates\rThe most important thing to be aware of in an Arena match is the position of your teammates. \u201cIf you relate it back to chess, your team's healer is essentially your Rey piece\u201d, says Method Synergy's Ryan \u201cTrill\u201d Costello. Healers typically play further back in the field, where they can't be easily stunned or interrupted, but still within the 40-yard healing range of their teammates.As a damage dealer, it's important to remember that your healer will have to move as you do to stay in range, which could be dangerous. \u201cThere's not much worse than getting out of position in a match,\u201d said Jason \u201cPika\u201d Smith. \u201cIt drags everyone into a risky position, which might result in your healer getting CC'd, interrupted, or swapped to.\u201d\rPosition Relative to Your Opponents\rSimultaneously, you'll need to be aware of your enemies' position\u2014and how you can use it to your advantage. Alex \u201cAlec\u201d Sheldrick, described one strategy for accomplishing this. \u201cAs the Mage on a caster cleave team, my goal is often to draw the enemy melee out into \u201cno man's land. Once they begin to overextend, my melee moves in behind them to \u201czone out\u201d their healer and apply pressure.\u201d Think about your team's capabilities and win conditions, and consider how you can force the enemy to play into your strategy.\rPosition Relative to Map ObstaclesEqually important to consider is your team's position relative to the obstacles on each map. Obstacles can be used to break enemies' line-of-sight, allowing you to avoid damage and CC. \u201cNo amount of damage you take is trivial when you think about your healer's mana pool,\u201d says Trill. \u201cKnowing when to use obstacles to avoid unnecessary damage can make a big difference later in the game.\u201dOften times, healers will opt to play close to an obstacle on the map, such as one of the four pillars in Arena de Nagrand, so that they can break their opponents' line-of-sight to avoid being targeted. While these obstacles provide relative safety, Alec says they don't give as much of an advantage as most players think. \u201cEvery time you peek, you're in danger\u2014if the fighting is close by. Consider playing in the open field at maximum range. Your enemies will have to move further to target you, giving you more time to react.\u201d \u201cPositioning is the most important thing that's not properly understood or discussed by most players. It's not obvious to think about at first, but as you gain more knowledge and game experience, you'll be able to tell what's working!\u201d \u2013 Alec There are seemingly infinite factors to think about in the Arena, but establishing strong fundamentals, like positioning, will do wonders for increasing your game sense and skill level. Be on the lookout for the next entry into our Opening Moves series, where we'll discuss the importance and power of cooldowns with professional World of Warcraft Arena players to help level up your play.